


Interlude

by Amahami



Series: All Around Us [9]
Category: Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood & Manga
Genre: Fluff, Gen, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Rating May Change, amestris's terribly named towns, ed and al get to be kids, ed does not die in this fic, photo albums
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-20
Updated: 2020-10-20
Packaged: 2021-03-09 02:15:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,947
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27126394
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Amahami/pseuds/Amahami
Summary: Photos from the album Ed puts together for Alphonse for when he dies. Most of the photos are from after  Ed gets his camera.Each chapter is a different photo, and will include the stories around said photo. Each chapter will be clearly placed in the canon of this series, in a clear way, so spoilers can be avoided.More explanation inside.
Relationships: Alphonse Elric & Edward Elric, No Romantic Relationship(s)
Series: All Around Us [9]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1858846
Comments: 5
Kudos: 78





	Interlude

**Author's Note:**

> This fic will remain "/?" Until the rest of the series is complete, as I may add to it at any time.
> 
> I may also move chapters around so that they're in chronological order, but I'll make a list with dates posted at the end of this first chapter.
> 
> Thank you to my beta, [Shilo](https://archiveofourown.org/users/shilo1364/pseuds/shilo1364), and my characterisation checkers Rae and Bean. Also a quick shout-out to Iz for letting me know he wouldn't be able to help out after all <3
> 
> Alright, enjoy!

**Photo:** Ed and Al standing side-by-side in front of a giant sign reading “World’s Biggest Watermelon Toss, Metso, 1914” with an absolutely _enormous_ watermelon beside it. Al looks like he’s a normal height in this photo instead of seven feet tall. The sky is a bright blue that can’t be seen outside of summer in most of Amestris. Ed’s eyes are bright with joy, and his smile is huge. Ed and Al are both covered in bits of watermelon.

**Story:** Ed and Al were on their way from Rush Valley to Dublith when Al saw it. The train had stopped at Kadayr for twenty minutes, since it was a large city.

The sign was in the middle of the train station, hanging from the ceiling, and promised the world’s biggest watermelon toss the next day.

“Brother, I know it’s out of our way, but can we go?” Al asked, nearly jumping in his seat.

Ed couldn’t say no when Al wanted something that he could give. And it wasn't like they were on a deadline.

“Where is it?” he asked.

“Metso,” Al said.

Ed groaned. “Al, that’s a six hour train ride. _One-way_.”

“But _Brother_ ,” Al whined.

Ed was a sucker. He groaned again (for show) as he stood up and stretched his aching joints.

“Get our bags while I get our tickets,” Ed said before he turned and walked out into the train station.

Luck was on their side: the next train east would leave in under an hour, and they’d get to Metso just before the dinner rush.

They boarded the half-empty train at the rear and got settled into their benches.

The trip didn't seem to take that long, surprisingly enough, but Ed was exhausted when they arrived.

They headed straight to the nearest food cart, for whatever they were selling.

Ed squinted his eyes, trying to force his brain to wake up. “Watermelon… Pork… Tacos?” he asked suspiciously.

The vendor, a kid not much older than him, smiled. “Yep! 500cenz for one, 800 for two, 1000 for three.”

“Do they have sour cream on them?” Ed asked suspiciously. He was willing to try just about anything, but not if it had sour cream on it, thanks.

“Costs 50cenz extra,” the vendor said as they scooped various elements of a taco onto a tortilla.

“Just one, please,” Al said instead of waiting for Ed to think.

“I want three, Al!” Ed shouted, cranky and tired and ready to throw down. Metaphorically. Physically was too much effort.

“What if you don’t like it, Brother?” Al asked reasonably.

“What if you don’t like it, Brother?” Ed mocked back. “I’ll just take the one,” Ed said in his normal voice to the vendor. He handed over a 500cenz note and took the taco.

“Surprisin’y ‘ood,” Ed admitted after he took a bite. He turned and began walking towards the centre of town.

Ed swallowed. “Definitely weird, dunno if I’d buy more, but it’s like… I dunno how to describe it, Al.” Ed took the last giant bite of his taco while deep in thought.

“Sweeter than a normal taco, but not super watermelony? Plenty spicy though.” Ed grinned and blew air quickly out of his mouth.

After they dropped their stuff off in their hotel room, they headed to one of the restaurants in town further away from the train station to get a proper meal.

Ed got their soup of the day (Watermelon roast), their vegetable of the day (watermelon salad), and their drink of the day (watermelon-apple smoothie with a sprig of mint).

He couldn’t very well be in town for the watermelon festival and _not_ eat the watermelon specialties, after all.

“How is it, Brother?” Al asked a few minutes into their meal.

Ed paused in his ravaging to consider. “Watermelon salad’s gross. Goat cheese.” Ed shuddered. The ‘salad’ was made up of about a third feta cheese, a third watermelon, and the rest regular salad stuff.

“The soup is great, though! The meat and vegetables really taste good with the watermelon. The drink is the best though, and I hope we can come back for more tomorrow.”

Ed took a big sip of said drink before diving back into his food.

~~

The next day, the town was absolutely _packed_. Ed and Al followed the crowd to a giant empty lot, where there were some giant watermelons (some taller than even Al!), a catapult, and big buckets full of tiny watermelons.

Ed and Al looked around in awe.

Along the roads surrounding the lot were people selling their watermelon-related wares. Jewelry, Hair clips, pocket watches, tableware, wallets, books, and all sorts of food.

Ed was drawn to a breakfast cart that was selling sandwiches. Rye bread, fried eggs, bacon or sausage, sauce of some kind, thin strips of grilled watermelon, and customer’s choice of veg. All for only 500cenz.

Ed only got one, because there were at least two dozen food stalls, and he wanted to try them _all_.

Once he had finished his sandwich, they headed to a book stall, where there were cookbooks on how to cook with fruits. Ed and Al skimmed through the options before deciding on one to get Sig.

Then they turned around and found another food stall, this one selling watermelon jam on toast.

Ed bought two slices and ate them as he and Al walked around, meandering from stall to stall. They bought some pink and green earrings for Winry made by local smiths, as well as some new handkerchiefs for themselves.

There were all sorts of little watermelon-themed activities to do: throw the watermelon seeds (bean bags) into the watermelon holes made of wood, seed-spitting challenges, throwing the “watermelon” (bowling ball), the usual carnival games adapted to the theme of watermelons and throwing.

And Ed and Al had a great time. They spent fifteen thousand cenz there, but they found it well worth it. (They made most of it back by doing odds and ends around town before they left)

In the afternoon, though, was the main event: catapulting the second-biggest watermelon down to the fields in which they were grown.

Al hurried Ed along, not wanting to miss it. He was so excited, though, that they were half an hour early, and all that was going on was engineers adjusting the catapult and a watermelon balancing competition.

Al turned to Ed apologetically, only to find Ed striding forward to sign himself up as a competitor. Al shook his head fondly and hurried after to sign himself up as well.

Usually the game was only played with eggs, but they were instead given a medium-sized watermelon to balance on a spoon.

Their goal was to make it ten metres with the melon on the spoon without it touching the ground or anything besides the spoon.

Al could do this. He knew more than master alchemist three times his age. This would be a breeze.

“Three. Two. One. Go!”

Al watched the melon carefully, took a step. Took another step. Melon wobbled. Al corrected and-- he _over_ corrected. The watermelon fell to the ground. It broke open on impact. He sighed.

 _Oh well_. He looked up to see Ed halfway to the finish line, with only one other person still in the race. The other person was in front of Ed, but she was careless and-- there went her watermelon.

It was just Ed left. All he had to do was get past where the lady had without dropping his watermelon. And it was just basic physics, Ed could totally-- … Ed’s watermelon splattered on the ground, under a metre behind the lady’s.

Al expected Ed to be mad, but instead when he turned to face the woman, he shook her hand.

“Great physics,” he said.

“Huh?”

“I moved the decimal point over too many times and overbalanced because of it. You’re a better physicist than me, clearly. Great job!”

Ed turned and trotted back to Al. “Forgot to carry your one?” he asked.

Al laughed. “Brother, most people don’t calculate the physics behind a game when they’re playing it.” Al did, and he _did_ in fact forget to carry his one, but Ed didn't need to know that.

Ed seemed to be in a really good mood, because he just shrugged. “I want to try out watermelon juggling,” he said, gesturing over to the opposite end of the lot where a booth they had missed was set up.

Al shrugged, metal clanking loudly. “Let’s go, then!” One of Ed’s physical therapy exercises had been juggling, to help with the hand-eye coordination of the new arm. Al had total faith in Ed.

It was a hundred cenz to try, and he started with three small watermelons. The record for the day was four small melons.

“I have an automail arm and leg,” Ed said as he handed the money over.

“That’s fine,” the head of the competition/judge said.

Ed began to juggle. “How long do I have to keep them in the air before I can move on to more?” he asked as he found his rhythm.

“Fifteen seconds.”  
  
“Not too bad. Okay. Al, on my count.”

Al nodded and picked up the next two watermelons. When Ed was ready, Al tossed him one of the watermelons. Ed juggled the four small melons and made it look easy.

Once the judge called out fifteen seconds, Al tossed another melon to Ed. He was juggling five melons, and the timekeeper called time.

Al picked up a sixth melon and tossed it to him. “How many are you going to try for?” Al asked

“Dunno,” Ed replied, sweat beginning to drip down from his hairline. “Two more?”

Al hummed in the affirmative and picked up two more melons. They’d gathered a bit of a crowd, from elsewhere on the lot.

“Ready,” Ed said once he was settled into the necessary rhythm.

Al tossed melon number seven into the ring and watched in awe. He’d seen Ed juggle up to sixteen balls at once, but those were small light, and perfectly balanced.

The watermelons were heavy and unevenly balanced, even the small ones.

The timekeeper called time, and Ed grunted a ‘ready’ sound.

Al could see Ed fumble a bit at first, and then he saved it, and was juggling all eight melons.

Right as the timekeeper called time, Ed fumbled the melons again, and suddenly watermelons were crashing down onto his and Al’s shoulders.

Ed and Al stared at each other for a long moment, then they burst into laughter simultaneously. Those gathered around did the same. Tears of joy ran down Ed's face.

“As your prize,” the head of the competition said once Ed had caught his breath, “let me take your photo in front of our sign.” He gestured to the sign behind him, beside which stood the watermelon that would be catapulted shortly -- the second-largest one (the first-largest one was elsewhere in the town for other parts of the festivities they hadn't gotten to yet).

Ed shrugged. “Sure, why not?” He grabbed Al’s gauntlet and led him to the sign, the judge guy trailing behind.

Ed and Al stood next to each other, beaming, as their picture was taken.

The rest of the festival was great -- watching a giant watermelon flung hundreds of metres was amazing, and sampling the rest of the watermelon-based food was… Well, maybe not _good_ , but it was _interesting_ , and the two of them helped entertain the kids around the area after dark, until their families closed up the booths for the day.

Ed and Al were sticky for weeks. But it was worth it, for how happy it made them.

**Author's Note:**

> Please note: my back has suddenly gotten significantly worse, so I may not be able to write until I get the pain sorted. I do have the next fic's first chapter written already, as well as the first chapter to an unrelated fic, so those'll come out sometime soon. 
> 
> I have the series all planned out so even in the worst case scenario and I can't write anymore, either i'll post, or someody else will post, all my plans and miscellaneous scenes for y'all. <3 (this part of the note will be moved to the next fic so as to not interfere w the guide below)
> 
> Chapter One: pre-series — Watermelon Toss — August 1914
> 
> (More will be added later as chapters are added)
> 
> Please let me know what you think! I had an absolute blast writing this, and it was such a fun change to write them happy and having fun c:


End file.
